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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pound — a weight
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. kick — in football
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. sharp — clever
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wound — an injury
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — to go on
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. last — finally
  24. sharp — exactly

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com